Checking system planned to enforce new voting limit
To facilitate the inspection of voting rights of foreigners, the Commerce Ministry's Business Development Department plans to establish a checking system and employ private auditors to ensure the percentage of voting rights will be reduced in line with the amended Foreign Business Act.
Director-general Kanissorn Navanugraha said the department would set up a system to carry out random checks of 44,000 companies, in order to establish whether voting rights exceeded the new restriction. The ministry will first inspect the voting rights of each company under Annexes 1, 2 and 3 to see whether foreign shareholders have more than 50 per cent of voting rights. Asked about the limited number of officials available to inspect those companies, Kanissorn said the department would transfer more officials from other sections in the department or request support from the permanent secretary's office. If necessary, the department may have to employ private companies, he said. The department will also have to inspect companies about which it receives complaints regarding their nominee status. For instance, the department recently finished investigating Kularb Kaew, which was alleged to be a nominee of Singapore's Temasek Holdings in taking over Shin Corp. Sixteen other companies have also been investigated after the Commerce Ministry received complaints they were breaching the Foreign Business Act. Under the amended Act, companies in Annex 1 and Annex 2 whose foreigners' voting rights exceed 50 per cent must report to the Commerce Ministry within 90 days. They will then have one year to reduce their voting-rights structure. Companies in Annex 3 are not required to decrease their voting rights, but they must report to the ministry. Kanissorn said the department would first clarify which companies came under which annex and randomly check voting rights as soon as amendments to the Act were implemented. The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the amendment, which should be implemented in the first half of the year. Moreover, the government plans to open more services under Annex 3, in order to help Thai companies develop and improve their competitiveness. The amended Act should not be considered an obstacle by foreign investors, but rather instead improve the investment climate by making it more transparent to all involved, he said. In order to promote better understanding among foreign investors, the department will host a three-month seminar to facilitate foreign enterprises' registration. The seminar will begin on January 31 at the Business Development Department.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation
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